Understand the characteristics of your paints so you can combine colors that are compatible according to intensity (purity or grayness), transparency (see-through quality of paint) and tinting strength (power of a color to influence a mixture). This enables you to work with just three colors to achieve a harmonious effect. The charts below list the colors for each triad. Sort your paints into these combinations and make sketches using three colors to see how different subjects look with compatible palettes. For more on compatible colors: Exploring Color Revised pp. 58-75 and All About Paint video.